AIMS: The primary aim of the present study is to determine the one year periodic prevalence of dispension of different analgesics to patients in long term opioid maintenance therapy (OMT). The secondary aim is to determine to which extent non-opioid analgesics are used as first line analgesics.

The background for undertaking this literature review on females and psychopathology is a co-operation with a Belgian research group at the University of Gent in the treatment study “The evolution of poly drug use and mental health among therapeutic community residents in Belgium: a 15-year comparison”.

This paper describes drinking patterns in 20 African countries, exploring the extent of abstention, heavy occasional drinking and daily light drinking and how these aspects of drinking are interrelated.

The centrally acting muscle relaxant carisoprodol has previously been shown to cause psychomotor impairment and to have a narrow therapeutic range. In Norway, carisoprodol was therefore reclassified to the highest scheduling level from 1 August 2007 and withdrawn from the market on 1 May 2008.

This study investigates the prevalence of QTc prolongation among opioid maintenance treatment (OMT) patients in Oslo in relation to: type of agonist (methadone or buprenorphine), dose, gender and length of treatment.

The proportion of Norwegians on disability pension has doubled since the 1980s, which pose both economical and societal challenges to the society. The phenomenon has raised the interest of research into the sickness absence and disability pension field.

The objective of this study was to investigate whether health care utilization due to somatic disease decreased during OMT, and if so, whether the reduction included all kinds of diseases and whether a reduction was related to abstinence from drug use.

Naltrexone is an opioid antagonist which effectively blocks heroin effects. Since opioid dependence treatment with naltrexone tablets suffers from high dropout rates, several depot injections and implants are under investigation. Sustained-release formulations are claimed to be effective, but a systematic review of the literature is lacking.

Methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) in Norway emphasizes rehabilitation and control with strict intake criteria and rules for involuntary termination. Consequently, the programme should be characterized as high threshold and restrictive, which is somewhat out of tune with the general European trend towards harm reduction and diversity